CBS Fall Schedule Puts 'Murphy Brown' on Thursdays, Overhauls Mondays

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Monday will now be home to two comedies and two dramas, and execs revealed that their revived Candice Bergen sitcom, airing alongside 'Mom,' will focus on a cable news morning show war.

CBS on Wednesday morning announced its fall lineup, its first without at least some Thursday Night Football in a few years, and is keeping things pretty much the same on the nights that have been working while making some big changes to its troubled Monday.

The biggest news of all might be that the resurrected Murphy Brown will land on the schedule sooner than some expected. The 13-episode order of the revival, which has even more excitement around it since the success of ABC's Roseanne, is slotted for Thursday nights, airing at 9:30 p.m. right after Mom and a full hour after The Big Bang Theory.

Programming senior vp Thom Sherman offered up some details about the new Murphy Brown during a breakfast with press. The returning characters, who anchored newsmagazine FYI in the original, now have a morning cable news show called Murphy in the Morning. The twist is that Brown's (Candice Bergen) son is on a rival morning show. When asked if it was a Fox & Friends/Morning Joe situation, CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl agreed that that was a good comparison. "We're extremely hopeful," the exec said when asked if Roseanne's success on ABC had raised ratings expectations. "We'd love to get Roseanne numbers. I'm not sure we're going to get Rosanne numbers."

Monday is the only night that looks dramatically different, year over year. The comedy block has been cut down to just one hour, with no returning series. At 8 p.m., it's newcomers The Neighborhood (which just added New Girl star Max Greenfield in a buzzy recasting) and Happy Together. The duo will be followed by the Magnum P.I. remake and a shifted Bull. The dramas, at the very least, should help remedy the night's ratings fatigue.

The rest of the changes are much more subtle and precise. Wednesday and Friday see no changes at all, and Tuesday's only change is the addition of freshman FBI as the beneficiary of NCIS' enduring and formidable lead-in. Murphy Brown is Thursday's lone change, subbing in for Life in Pieces, now held for midseason. On Sundays, the revolving drama door at 8 p.m. gets the freshman God Friended Me before the returning NCIS: Los Angeles and Madam Secretary.

Though the actual changes are minor, it is worth noting that CBS is among the most aggressive networks to run new programming this upfronts week. The fall will bring six new series, including Murphy Brown (only technically a returning show).

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